The History of The Quad

This summer, 21 geothermal wells were installed to heat and cool “the Lizzie,” the first new building to grace our historic Quad since the former Science Building was completed in 1967. As the installation was completed, and our beautiful and beloved green space was restored, we looked into the Paula and George Krimsky ’60 Archives and Special Collections to learn more about the history of the Quad.

The quadrangle was created from 1924-1928 as part of a campus plan implemented by our third Head of School, William Hamilton Gibson, Jr., Class of 1902. Gibson’s correspondence, along with proposals, blueprints, articles in The Stray Shot, and other documents in the archives, tells the story. Gibson worked with New York-based architect Richard Henry Dana Jr., who also designed buildings at Loomis Chaffee and The Dalton School, and had a summer home in Washington; and Adrian Van Sinderen, Class of 1906, who was Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and a generous benefactor of the school. At the time, the campus consisted of the “old Gunnery,” a sprawling Victorian facing Route 47 (on the site of what is now Gunn House) and just four other buildings: the original gymnasium, built in 1881 (now Emerson Fitness Center), the Schoolhouse, built in 1882 (now Tisch Schoolhouse), a cottage that housed at various points the first infirmary, the laundry, and housing for maids, students and faculty; and Bartlett, a three-story dormitory built in 1904 behind the gymnasium.

Brinsmade soon after it’s completion. Note the absence of the terrace, and the glass doors. The location was selected to afford a view over the athletic field across the street.

The plan was to turn the school away from Route 47 and create a more enclosed campus anchored by four new Colonial Revival buildings that would support anticipated growth in enrollment. We know these buildings today as Brinsmade, Gibson, Gunn, and Van Sinderen. Each had a specific purpose in addition to providing housing for students and faculty.

BRINSMADE: THE FIRST OF MANY STEPS

A new dining hall came first. Plans called for a 1,500-square-foot dining room that could accommodate 12 circular tables, with seating for 10 students and faculty at each; an assembly room for lectures and social gatherings; and a kitchen wing with automatic refrigeration and a serving pantry. On the second floor were 10 maids rooms, a housekeeper’s suite, two guest rooms, an office, and a bedroom for one nurse. The building was dedicated on October 2, 1925, as part of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the school. It was named in honor of the second Head of School, John Chapin Brinsmade, Class of 1862, and his wife, Mary Gold (Gunn) Brinsmade, “who for so many years carried on and upheld and developed Gunnery traditions,” the editors of The Stray Shot wrote in December 1925, noting that the new building “marks the first of many steps that we hope are to be taken to embellish the school and its surroundings. It represents the generosity of many friends, alumni and boys, who have faith in the school’s future.”

Setting The Stage For The Quadrangle

The Administration Building, Gibson, was completed next, a gift of Adrian Van Sinderen and his wife, Jean. Dedicated on October 15, 1927, in honor of William Hamilton Gibson, it included offices for the head of school, assistant head of school and secretary on the first floor, and a new dormitory for senior boys, with single and double rooms, on the second floor. There was also a “social room with a fireplace,” a laundry in the cellar, and student mailboxes. The landscaping for the new building would set the stage for the entire quadrangle. As Gibson noted in a letter to Dana in October 1927, Van Sinderen authorized a new terrace and path on the south side of the building, “and felt very strongly that he wanted to commit the school to flagstone paths in the future, and therefore that this first path should be of flagstone.”

GETTING IT JUST RIGHT, FOR ALL TIME

In 1928, the school reached a turning point, determining the old Gunnery was to be torn down rather than renovated, and a new dormitory, Gunn, was built in its place. This was a major step forward. As Gibson wrote to Dana in January 1928: “I am appalled by the delicacy of the picture. I think there is great opportunity for getting it just right, for all time, but that going too fast in the first jump may mean a permanent loss of something that might have been saved.”

To this, Dana replied a month later: “I also agree with you entirely about taking plenty of time to study ‘the picture’ thoroughly, before doing anything, and agree with you that there is a chance to do something with the campus, that will be very lovely and that might be lost, if we hurried it.”

In a nod to the history and nostalgia surrounding the home where Frederick and Abigail Gunn once lived and taught, Dana requested that the wrecking company salvage “certain mantels, corner bookcases and the school bell,” which were to be incorporated into the new building. Some 6,000 bricks were saved and even the stone work from the foundation walls was reused, at Dana’s request, to build a retaining wall next to the parking area outside of Gibson.

Dedicated in memory of Frederick Gunn, the new dormitory was designed as a three-part building facing away from Route 47. “This new building facing the campus will shield the campus from the high road and make a much more real and enclosed campus,” Dana wrote to Gibson in January 1928. The center part of the building included dorm rooms on the first and second floors, a common room for each form, with window seats and bay windows facing the campus, and built-in bookcases on either side of the fireplaces.

A Lovely Thing To Look Upon

Addressing Mrs. Brinsmade and friends of the school at the dedication of Gunn, Van Sinderen said: “This is the third time in almost as many years that we have met to lay a new cornerstone at this school. The occasion however, this time, has added significance. We are at last in position to view the Gunnery Campus in the making ... a campus which will some day, and I hope in the near future, be a lovely thing to look upon,” Van Sinderen said. “These buildings will be connected by a greensward, by stone paths. This inner circle here will, we hope, and I believe, be one of the fondest memories of those who in the years to come graduate from this school.”

Van Sinderen was designed as an infirmary and a dormitory, with single and double rooms accommodating 20 boys, a sun porch and open terrace facing the Quad. Gibson wrote to the architect in 1930 about the building, “It is just too pretty for words.” assure you that my part in the development of the grounds has given me keen delight, because ... it is not simply for the pleasure of one person, but I trust it is for the pleasure of many generations of Gunnery boys. I wish you all the joy which ought to be yours for your generous gift.”

The last of the four buildings, the Infirmary, named in honor of the Van Sinderens, was completed in 1929, a decade after the 1918 flu pandemic swept across the globe. The new infirmary, with its laboratory, dispensary, surgical room, and exam rooms, as well as a “contagious section,” was a welcome addition to the school.

In a letter to landscape architect Robert Wheelwright, Van Sinderen noted the infirmary, like other buildings on the Quad, should be sited to preserve mature trees on the campus. Wheelwright responded to the school’s generous benefactor: “You have certainly done nobly for the Gunnery, and I can

These buildings will be connected by a greensward, by stone paths. This inner circle here will, we hope, and I believe, be one of the fondest memories of those who in the years to come graduate from this school.”

–Adrian Van Sinderen, 1928

The south wing of Gunn (at left) housed the school library (which remained there for 35 years). Plans called for oak paneling, bookcases with shelf space for 4,800 books, built-in window seats and large, open fireplaces at either end. “This room will have two large windows overlooking the athletic field to the east, and also two large windows overlooking the campus to the west,” Dana wrote. “[I]t ought to be a very sunny cheerful room at all times.”